In Italy, the President of the Council of Ministers (Italian: Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri) is the country's prime minister or head of government. According to the formal Italian order of precedence, the position of President of the Council of Ministers is ceremonially the fourth-most-important Italian state office; however, in reality, the President of the Council of Ministers is the most powerful and thus truly most important person in the Italian government. This situation mirrors the position of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and indeed most other Prime Ministers.
The Presidency of the Council is a constitutional office, established by the Italian Constitution by articles 92, 93, 94, 95, and 96. The President of the Council is appointed by the President of the Republic, the head of state. The current prime minister of Italy is Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission, and leader of the center-left coalition, The Union. Prodi resigned from his position on 24 January, 2008, but remains prime minister until formal action by the President of the Italian Republic.
The seat of the government is in Palazzo Chigi, situated in Piazza Colonna in Rome.
